Dillon Gabriel's great showing in two preseason games made Kenny Pickett expendable. GM Andrew Berry cashed in that currency by trading him to the Raiders for a fifth-round pick. (Cleveland Browns)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Joe Flacco’s ironman history and Dillon Gabriel’s rapid development made Kenny Pickett expendable. When the Las Vegas Raiders came calling, Browns GM Andrew Berry couldn’t refuse.
Berry traded Pickett to the Raiders for a fifth-round pick in next year’s draft. Berry gave up a fifth-round pick in 2025 to acquire Pickett from the Eagles in March.
This pick increases Berry’s draft arsenal ostensibly to stalk a franchise quarterback in the QB-rich 2026 draft. The Browns now own extra picks in the first, fifth and sixth rounds.
So another false narrative bites the dust.
This one had Berry favoring – if not demanding -- Pickett as the Browns’ starting quarterback in 2025. The narrative was regularly espoused by the club’s in-house radio show, Cleveland Browns Daily, carried on 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Maybe there would have been a decent competition if Pickett had not suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain on July 26. But the indomitable Flacco, the former Super Bowl MVP with the Baltimore Ravens and 2023 NFL comeback player of the year with the Browns, was never going to lose the job to a quarterback still trying to prove himself.
Ultimately, Flacco won Berry over, as he did coach Kevin Stefanski long ago.
The key to Berry trading Pickett, however, was the play of Gabriel in two preseason games against the Eagles and Rams.
In those tests against the backup defensive players of two NFC Super Bowl contenders, Gabriel had seven possessions and produced five scores – two touchdowns and three field goals. He faced 12 third-down situations and converted nine into first downs – eight on pass completions.
Clearly, now, the Browns will head into the season with quarterback clarity for the first time since the team convened for offseason workouts in April. Flacco is QB1 and Gabriel QB2.
Now, what about QB3?
Will the Browns entrust the job to rookie Shedeur Sanders, who had one good preseason game vs. Carolina and was awful vs. Los Angeles? Or will Berry call back veteran Tyler Huntley to rejoin the team as good insurance in case the inevitable QB histrionics upend another Browns season?
Or – can you believe it? -- will the Browns call on Deshaun Watson if needed late in the season?
The $230 million man reportedly is ahead of schedule in his rehab from two Achilles tendon surgeries in November and January. The Browns are paying him $46 million, anyways, and might see cause to blow a reported insurance policy on Watson’s injury and activate him late in the season.
So the Browns’ quarterback carousel takes another spin. Grab a seat and enjoy the ride. It may actually get interesting this year – and next.